Solid Waste Management and Recycling

COLLECTION,TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL IN NAIROBI 67

waste handling, storage, transportation, segregation, and destruction. Once again, it is
too soon to tell whether these institutional reforms will sort any meaningful effect.

Waste generators

Households
In 1998, daily municipal (waste) generation in Nairobi stood at 1,530 tons, with house-
holds accounting for 82.8 percent of the total, commercial enterprises (6.5 percent),
markets (5.8 percent) and roads (4.9 percent) (JICA, 1998). Markets, roads, and insti-
tutions like restaurants had the highest generation rates, however (Table 4.1).

JICA (1998) found per capita generation rates of 0.65, 0.60 and 0.54 kg/day for high,
middle and low-income residential areas, respectively. Previous estimates, 1985-1992
for instance, found per capita Solid waste generation rates of 0.35-0.46 Kg/day
depending on the socio-economic status of the households (Mwangi, 1990; Syagga,
1992). JICA (1998) data, however, are believed to be better, because the study was
very extensive covering even the unplanned settlements, while the others either used
the poor NCC data or conducted surveys in the serviced areas only. Waste generation
estimates are usually net of the materials taken out by the households for reuse and
trade.

Households do not only generate waste, they are also involved in waste prevention or
minimisation. About 70 percent of the households we interviewed separate materials
for reuse and/or sale. About 15 percent of the sampled households traded with the
separated materials. Plastics, clothing materials, shoes, wood from furniture, and other
materials are directly or indirectly consumed either by the household itself or by
domestic servants. Vegetable wastes are used for fertilizing/mulching kitchen gardens
and, increasingly, for livestock feeding, while food wastes are used to feed chickens,
pigs and dogs (for more details see chapter 8 and 12).

Table 4.1. Relative municipal solid waste generation rates in Nairobi, 1998

Type of MSW generator Rate (Kg/day)

Mixed (restaurant)
Mixed (others)
High income residential households
Middle income residential households
Low income residential households
Activities in areas surrounding residencies
1 market
Road (1 Kilometer)

6.79

1.39

3.84

3.34

2.72

3.07

2,425.00

48.30

Source: JICA(1998)